Pumpkin Walk 2011

I am really lucky that I have such great friends that invite Kaleb and I to hang out with their families and do fun things- it sure isnt as much fun for just the 2 of us to go and do these things. Thanks Shauna and family for including us!
Last week we went to the pumpkin walk and then went to Shauna's sisters house to have dinner - then we went mini golfing. It was a busy night but so much fun.. Here are some great pictures of the pumpkin walk -
Here are a couple of the Angry bird display - the department that I am in dressed up as angry birds - so I wanted the pix of this ...

Here is another-I just love the green pigs-

Here is the first shot I took - and Lisa(Shauna's sister) stuck her head in being funny.. she cracks me up!

Here are some of the boys in the various wood cut outs-
Kaleb as Yoda...

Here is Derek- Shauna's son as Yoda

And here is Brendan(Jessie), Kaleb(Buzz) and Derek(Woody)


Sadly these are the only pictures I took that night.. by the time we got to mini golfing I could hardly see- so I didnt even attempt to take pictures. We had an awesome time- and I couldnt be more gratefuly for my awesome friend Shauna and her family for including us!

Hockey and Soccer- my favs!

It's no secret that I absolutely LOVE hockey and I'm getting there with soccer too. I make it a point to go to every home game that USU Aggies play in hockey- so far this year we are undefeated- man I love this game.
Here are a couple of shots I took the other night at the game... here is Mephis and Ethan - the best of friends and cousins to boot.

Here is one of Mephis and Ethan and my nephew Trenten- I freakin love these boys!

Love the look on Trentens face - he is hoping that the Aggies! make another goal..
Here is one of the team doing what they do best :)

Here is one of my favorites shots of the night, Memphis and his Gpa- (my Uncle Steve) watching till the last second of the game.


Soccer...
Leo the Lion- the mascot for the Salt Lake Real Soccer team came into the office the other day - thought he would try to look cool while chillin at my co-workers desk.


I am so glad that we have had the opportunity to go and watch games that we both love- every week its a night that both Kaleb and I get to hang out (like every other night) doing something that we both love.

Fruit, fruit, fruit and ... more fruit!

My brother and sister in law have what amounts to an orchard in their backyard- they have pear, apricot, cherry and 3 different kinds of apple trees. We as a family had been eating off of the trees for weeks... and she was raking up apples and pears almost as fast as we could eat them. They were awesome enough to let my friend Shauna and her kids come and pick some apples and pears for thier winter storage.

This is Devin- Shauna's 16 year old son(who is 6'7") he climbed up in the tree as soon as they got there and didnt get out..


Here is another of him working away..


These are 2 of my beautiful nieces, Mady on the left and Emily on the right- helping bag the apples


Here is Shauna's other son Brendan- finding creative ways to pick up the rotten apples on the ground


By the time it was too dark to see apples on the trees - we had picked 1 bag of pairs, 23 bags of apples and filled 5 or 6 buckets... Shauna is going to be busy.. cuz she not only got apples from my brother but plums from my dad.
We had a great time picking the apples, and hopefully it will be less for Amber and Josh to rake up.

A good-bye that nobody should have to make...

12 years ago I entered into a love affair that has just come to a sad ending. I had to make the choice(and the looonnnggg) drive to put our dog Cali down. She was just 6 weeks old when I got her and she lived to be just over 12- she was a border collie/ blue healer mix, and she was the cutest little thing I had ever seen, her eyes were the brightest and shiniest brown and up to the very last breath they shined with love.

The hardest part of deciding to put her down was watching my son grieve for the only pet he has ever had- in the last week of her life he sat outside and did his homework with her, talked to her and combed her. These are a couple of Kaleb with Cali.

Smiling for the camera..

Getting her ever favorite belly rub..

A tearful boy saying one final good-bye and one final hug to his faithful friend..


I held her on my lap when I brought her home with me, and I held her in my arms as she drew her last breath. She was the greatest dog, and a great friend.. rest in peace and chase all the cats in heaven that you see!
I love you...

Katie's song - in memory...

On August 31- our family had another milestone - it was the 2 year anniversay of losing our Katie lady. Katie was killed by a drunk driver in a car crash, she was taken from our family way too soon. She was taken from her son Memphis - who just celebrated his 4th birthday - he only has our memories of his mom - and of course his middle of the night conversations he has with her- cuz she flew up to heaven and is his angel looking down on him.
Katie was the "butterfly" in our family - my cousins wife likened Katie to this in her talk at her funeral because like a butterfly - Katie went where she pleased and she pleased where she went.
She was the greatest mom, sister, daughter, granddaughter and friend. I am grateful that she was my cousin and I am glad I called her friend. I love her more than ever and miss her more than words can express.
This song was one that was sung at her funeral- it will forever in my head and heart be "Katie's song"..

R.I.P. Katie Lady ...

First day of 5th grade

Kaleb is in the 5th grade this year- and the school year certainly has been full of changes - really before it even started. I made the decision to transfer Kaleb to the school that is by our house - intead of letting him finish at the school he started when he was in kindergarten.
This is Kaleb on his first day of school.. he was excited and nervous..


It's been a month since school started(I know I'm behind) and he is doing well. He had some learning curves at the beginning of the year - but he is over them and doing well in his class. This is the first year that he has had a male teacher - and he wasn't sure what to think of it.. once he learned his boundaries he has done well! I don't think I will dread parent teacher confernce anymore :)

Yay son!! Have a great year!

Happy Un-birthday to Kaleb...

This year I actually had an UN-birthday party for Kaleb. There are only so many options for a birthday party when your birthday is in winter..so this year we did a day at the pool. It was so much fun for Kaleb to have 4 of his friends with him at the pool... we had lunch and spent the better part of the day there..
This is Kaleb and his friend Derek

Another of them being dorks..cute ones...but still dorks :)

This is his friend Brendan- who is hiding.

This is my friend Shauna and her daughter McKinnley..(they came to hang out with me for the day)

This is one of Kinney, Shauna and Brendan-

We had a great time at the pool that day.. next year however we will be having an OUTSIDE birthday in November when his birthday actually is :) (that's more for me than for him haha)

New Glasses

School this year brought with it new surprises- The first being that Kaleb absolutely LOVES his teacher - which Im so excited about!

These are Kaleb's new glasses- which he also LOVES :)


The new school year also brought new glasses for me- but I dont like pictures of myself so I wont be posting any of me :)

9/11/2011

I remember where I was 10 years ago on this day. I had just dropped my baby off at the sitters and was listening to the radio when I heard the dj say that a plane had hit the World Trade Center... I couldnt believe it. When I got to work the guys were trying to get coverage on the t.v. in the accounting room - to watch the events as they unfolded.
When knews of the 2nd plane hitting the tower came in - I cried. I knew that everything in this world as I knew it had changed. I heard someone say or read it somewhere that to most this day will just be another day in hisotry, much like Pearl Harbor.. unless you lived through it.
I pray that I will never have to see something like this happen to the U.S.A again, that my son will not have to witness and remember something like this. I pray that those that survived are ok, and those that didnt will rest in peace and those that lost someone will be at peace with life.

I will never forget for as long as I live... thanks to all that run into danger to protect the lives of those in danger. Thanks to our troops who still fight everyday and thank you to the families that stand by them.

4th of July - Fireworks!

Every year we make it a point to take the kids into the stadium for the firesworks- this year was no different even though Logan City raised the prices for admission - it was still a great time had by all. We made it in the gates and found our seats- then I hear Monita!! it was my great friend Missy - it was great to sit by all of them...
Here we are catching up...


Here is a picture of Kaleb..


Here is my sister and her all of her boys...


Here is my freakin cute nephew - Trenten..


Here are my parents... if my mom knew I was posting this picture of her.. she would flip! so its our secret..


We had such a great time together - we missed my brother and all of his girls but they opted out this year...

4th of July craft

We all know how I feel about summer - but I love the 4th of July - and when I saw this craft I couldn't help but make some - I made one for myself, my mom and my friend Shauna.. so easy and so much fun to do!



Love it!

Khol's American Cup

Kaleb has been playing spring and fall soccer for as long as he has been able to - last year his coach decided that she wanted to enter her whole team in the Khols Amerian Cup - a 4 on 4 team tournament. There were so many kids from his soccer team that wanted to play that she ended up splitting the team into 2 teams- Kaleb and his friend Derek ended up playing with 3 other kids. The coach split up the team and put all of her "best" players on 1 team then put Kaleb, Derek and Landon and 2 other boys on a team - her "best" players were out after the 2nd round of games.. and Kaleb and Derek's team - The Ballbusters - took 2nd in the whole tournament- last game lost due to a misunderstanding in the rules of the game which allowed the other team to get 1 up- bummer!

Here are a couple of action shots of Kaleb and Derek..
Kaleb saving a ball from going in the goal...

Another shot of Kaleb stopping the ball from going in the goal...

Here is Derek going for a header...

Here they are in a team huddle...

Here is the whole team - they did awesome!


The 1st and 2nd place teams get certificates as well as medals- it was so much fun for all there!! I am sad that he wont be playing spring soccer - he has informed me that he will be playing LaCrosse..but it was sure a good time...

Wellsville Mile

With Kaleb being in the 4th grade last year he was able to prepare for and run the Wellsville Mile- it's a rite of passage for 4th and 5th graders in the Cache County school district - who attend schools on the South end of Cache Valley - the kids prepare by running 1 mile everyday that they are in school.

Here is Kaleb running his first lap..


Here he is on his finishing lap..


Here is the time that he finished...

It seems a bit slow for the group that he was in - but while running Kaleb saw that his friend was a bit slower so he went back to run with him so he wouldnt have to run alone- how awesome is he? I just love that kid!
Here he is after he is done and getting ready to hang out with my friend Shauna and her boys-


What a great time had by all - cant wait to do it again this year...

My June Project

This is my cute friend Braquel and her awesome hubby Richard they got married at the end of June -

I made a couple of gifts for their new home.. (they are cowboy and cowgirl, which explians the twine)
This is what I made for her spur of the moment bridal shower..

This is what I made for her wedding gift - ( I just love subway tile art)


I love these two - they are so cute together! Richard was a great help the night Kaleb got hurt and I just love Braquel!! Many happy years you two!

Beginning of the summer .. part 2

Four days after I hurt my foot - we were at a good friends house and our boys were playing outside and having a great time. They got sleeping bags and were hoping for a sleepover. I sent one of Shauna's older sons out to the get Kaleb - they decided to hide after he went inside - up on her dog run.. normally no big deal - HOWEVER Kaleb didn't have shoes on and his foot was no match for the tin roof he came into contact with. The boys snuck inside the house to the downstairs basement- to which one of Shauna's other boys came upstairs saying that Kaleb was bleeding- so Shauna headed downstairs - me being injured hobbled myself downstairs - met by Shauna telling me it's alot of blood, dont panic - then her yelling for her daughter that is a nursing student.. huh? really??? I head to the bathroom and Kaleb is bleeding everywhere - there are about 10 bandaids all over the floor where the boys tried to patch the wound.. we loaded up and headed to the local ER - this is after his foot was numbed and cleaned..

This is a picture of the Dr cauterizing the artery that Kaleb cut into..

And this is the end result.. 7 stitches outside and 1 into the artery that wouldnt stop bleeding.


Needless to say - I hate summer anyway - but this really was a horrible 1st week!

Beginning of the summer ...

Within the first 10 days of June - Kaleb and I both hurt ourselves- opposite feet - my right and his left.
I went to my cousins graduation party - and as I was getting my sleeping nephew out of the back of my car, I stepped backwards and stepped right in a hole- twisted my ankle, heard a pop. As I tried to regain my balance(still holding my 3 year old sleeping nephew) I tried to step forward onto that foot and it wouldn't support either of us and down I went.
This is my foot right after the incident...

This is about 1 hour later - as Im contemplating a trip to the after hours clinic..

This is 4 days later -

The diagnosis originally was a bad sprain- then it was a broken foot.. then after a trip to the orthopedic surgeon - I was diagnosed with torn ligaments and tendons and nerve damage- ugh!